Pillow Fight
by Carrot-Bunny
Summary: On the first night of their second year at Hogwarts, each of the Marauders has a problem that keeps them awake. What can they do to get themselves to fall asleep? "Any place's a good place for a pillow fight." R/R.


The four boys walked into their room and began getting ready for bed. There were a few minutes of idle chatting between them about how they spent their summer holidays, and then they climbed into bed and James turned off the light with a flick of his wand. The room was plunged into darkness, and all was silent.

In the bed nearest to the door, though, a certain Sirius Black lay awake on his mattress. He tried again and again to fall asleep, but every time he closed his eyelids memories of the last summer he spent at home came racing back to him. His parents' disgruntled expression every time he was in their presence, his uncle and aunt ignoring him every time they came to visit while they showered Regulus with presents, Narcissa turning a haughty nose up at him, Bellatrix hexing him behind the adults' backs every chance she got, Andromeda not being around because she was preparing for her wedding to the 'filthy Mudblood' as the others called him, Regulus making a point not to look at him every time they were in the same room. He couldn't decide which was worst, and if he had to choose he would say all of them. Sure, he wasn't exactly on best terms with his family before, but it had gotten worse after he'd returned from his first year at Hogwarts. All this just because he had defied family tradition and gotten himself sorted into Gryffindor.

In the bed next to his, Remus Lupin was having trouble falling asleep as well. He thrashed and turned around under his covers, the thought of having to go through another year of hiding his secret from his friends bothering him like a thorn in his back. It had been hard enough last year, but he knew his friendship with the others was growing stronger and it would take all his willpower to keep them in the dark about his problem. Still, he knew they would find out eventually, and what would happen then? Would they refuse to be his friends anymore because of the danger? Would they see him as a dirty creature, something far different from them? Would they even want to talk to him? He stopped thrashing about and stared up at the ceiling, as if hoping it held the answers to his problems.

Opposite was Peter Pettigrew's bed, where he laid on his side looking at the photograph he held in his hand. In it he and his mother were smiling into the lenses, their sunny smiles unmarred. The photo was taken just before he entered Hogwarts, and he was shocked to discover how much things had changed when he got home from his first year at wizarding school. His mother pretended everything was fine, but he could still see the pain behind her cheerful exterior. There was a disease, and he could do nothing about it. He wished he could stay by her side, but she wouldn't let him. She insisted his education was more important. He put the photograph on the bedside table, and pulled the covers over his head, hoping sleep would come to him soon.

To the side was the bed of James Potter, where he lay with his arms crossed under his head, staring into thin air. He had met Lily Evans and her greasy friend on the Hogwarts Express earlier that day. All he wanted was to talk to her, but Snivellus decided he had come to jinx him and made the first attack. He wasn't going to just stand there and let himself be hexed, so the end result was that Snivellus had to be helped back into their compartment by her and another Slytherin. He would never forget the look of pure contempt she cast at him just before she turned away, while he was still smirking at Snivellus' sorry backside. He closed his eyes and tried to put those glaring green eyes of hers out of his mind, but to no avail. He wished she would just realize he wanted to be friends, but now chances of that happening were growing slimmer.

The silence in the room was suddenly broken by Sirius screaming into his pillow. "I HATE MY LIFE!"

"Oi, shut your trap, will you? You're not the only one who's sleeping in this room!" came James' voice from the opposite bed.

"Sorry, mate. Did I wake you?"

James sighed. "No, I couldn't sleep anyway."

"What's the problem?"

"Met Lily and Snivellus on the train earlier. Had a duel, won, and now she thinks I'm dirt."

"Hey, she already thinks you're dirt."

"Thanks for helping." James turned around and lay on his stomach, looking over at his best friend's bed. "And what seems to be ailing our Mr. Black on this fine night?"

"When you've got a family like mine, you're always ailed."

"Ah, I see. They didn't take too well to the news that the prodigal son has returned from school, then?"

"You think? It's not likely they'll be standing at the door with open arms."

"Would you two be quiet? I'm trying to sleep here." Remus glared at the two boys from his bed.

"You having a sleepless night as well?" Sirius turned and lay on his side so he could look over at the bed next to his.

"As a matter of fact, yes. And you two talking doesn't help."

"Care to share your situation?"

Remus hesitated. "Let's just say that a little problem of mine is keeping me awake."

"Same here." Peter poked his head out of the covers of his bed. "I can't sleep as well."

"So, looks like we're all in the same boat here." Sirius sat up on his bed.

"We should try to get some sleep though. We have classes tomorrow." Remus also sat up on his bed.

"Why are you so enthusiastic about classes anyway?"

"They help keep my mind off things. Isn't that good?"

The others had to agree that anything that took their minds off what was bothering them was pretty good, even if it was classes. "Well, we're not going to get any sleep tonight like this, that's for sure." James crossed his legs as he sat in a lotus-like position on his bed.

It was then that Sirius was struck with another of his bright ideas. "Hey, why don't we all sleep on James' bed?"

"Sure."

"Okay!"

"Hey wait, I never said -" James was cut off by his three friends scrambling for space on his bed. The result was four twelve-year-old boys all squeezed into one bed not big enough to fit them all. James had the unfortunate luck to be wedged in between Sirius and Peter. "Hey guys, I don't think we're all going to fit in here."

"I'm falling over." Peter tried to find his balance on the edge of the bed.

"I don't think this is going to help," said Remus as he tried to avoid being pushed off the bed by Sirius, who was jostling for a more comfortable position.

"Really James, why did you suggest we all sleep in your bed?"

"Hey! You're the one who -" James was cut off again by Sirius stuffing a pillow in his face. He threw the pillow at Sirius, who dodged it expertly.

"So how is this supposed to help us sleep?" Peter had finally found a spot on the edge of the bed where he could lie on his side without falling over.

"I believe the idea is to get us so tired of one another that we fall asleep in exhaustion," Remus observed as he dodged a pillow thrown by James that was meant to hit Sirius. "Will you two stop it? There's not enough room for a pillow fight here."

"Any place's a good place for a pillow fight." Sirius threw a pillow at James' head, which hit the target square-on.

Remus sighed. "Can I go back to my bed?"

"No, of course not! If we're all going to sleep here, that's what we're going to do!" To prove his point, Sirius threw a pillow at Remus, who made a surprising catch with his hand and sent it flying back at Sirius. Sirius ducked his head as the pillow soared over him and hit Peter, who took it and attempted to hit Remus with it but instead succeeded in knocking James off his feet. Soon the four boys were engaged in an all-out pillow fight that involved pillows from each of the four beds in the dormitory and even some underclothes from James' trunk. As they lay on the mattress creaking under their combined weight, Sirius grinned like a happy puppy. "So, feel like sleeping now?"

"Yeah, I guess," yawned Peter as he grabbed a nearby pillow and tucked it under his head. In two seconds he had already fallen asleep, his worries about his mother's health pushed away by his exhaustion.

"Well, goodnight to all of you." James also grabbed a pillow and settled down to sleep. "Maybe I'll go apologize to Evans in the morning. I'm not apologizing to Snivellus though." He yawned once, and then he was also asleep.

"You do that. In the meantime, I'll fulfill my duty as Regulus' elder brother and put something in his breakfast as a welcome-to-Hogwarts gift." Sirius pulled the covers over himself and was soon snoring soundly.

Remus was the last to fall asleep as he glanced out of the window and saw the new moon shining like the smile of a young lady in the night sky. There was still plenty of time until the full moon, he thought happily, and a smile appeared on his face as he rested his head against Sirius' dark hair and fell asleep as well.

**A/N: So what do you think? I was feeling a bit touchy after having gotten no reviews on my latest oneshot 'Thunder' yet, so I wrote this to cheer myself up. All I have to say is, it did help. If you wanna cheer me up even more, go read 'Thunder' and just write something in the dialog box. Love it, hate it, go flame it if you want but I want to hear from you! A good author needs feedback from readers to improve themselves! And don't forget to review this one too! Thanks!**


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